Review: Practice Makes Perfect

Payton Kendall and J.D. Jameson are lawyers who know the meaning of objection. A feminist to the bone, Payton has fought hard to succeed in a profession dominated by men. Born wealthy, privileged, and cocky, J.D. has fought hard to ignore her. Face-to-face, they’re perfectly civil. They have to be. For eight years they have kept a safe distance and tolerated each other as coworkers for one reason: to make partner at the firm.

…There are no rules.

But all bets are off when they’re asked to join forces on a major case. Though apprehensive at first, they begin to appreciate each other’s dedication to the law—and the sparks between them quickly turn into attraction. But the increasingly hot connection does not last long when they discover that only one of them will be named partner. Now it’s an all-out war. And the battle between the sexes is bound to make these lawyers hot under the collar…

I feel like I read a completely different book than everyone else. I was promised a lighthearted, entertaining romance with lots of laughs. So why am I so annoyed right now?

I got nearly 80 pages in, and J.D., the male lead, has acted like a hardcore meninist-style misogynist the entire time. He is the definition of uber-entitled white male privilege who, in his own words, doesn’t believe in privilege.

Hard pass.

Payton, the female lead, is a little better. At first. But the fact that she’s a female lawyer who defends companies when they get sued for gender discrimination and yet claims to be a feminist and somehow isn’t conflicted about her job isn’t something I can get over.

Hard pass.

Oh, and did I mention that J.D. defends large corporations in civil suits? And that the two of them are getting paired up to defend a company in what’s going to be the largest civil-suit of gender discrimination ever?

So, soulless one-dimensional corporate lawyers who care more for their careers, making money and the written law than they do real justice, other people’s lives, and any sort of moral right and wrong?

Hard pass.

Unless these two take a good, long look at themselves, turn into actual likable characters, and self-sabotage this lawsuit. Only if someone tells me that happens will I pick this back up.

navessaallen

Olivia

February 21, 2017

White privilege? LOL! What, are you going to say that the wage gap exists next? Or maybe that women don’t survive on the state more than men? Western women are the most privileged creatures on the planet. As for the male character, privilege comes from birth and connections. That doesn’t mean all rich people slum it out.

navessaallen

March 8, 2017

Maybe it’s because I haven’t had any coffee yet, but your comment is super confusing. Are you saying the wage gap doesn’t exist? And I never said that western women aren’t privileged. Just because we are, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still strive for full equality, for us and all women.

Angela

I always feel like I *should* like Julie James’ books, but I’ve never been able to really do it. This sounds awful. It’d be awesome if they actually did dig in and do some soul searching.

And I get being a lawyer and believing in proper defense and the system (to an extent), but you also get to choose what you do and how you do it. Being in it for the money just…. isn’t good enough for me.

navessaallen

February 21, 2017

I think she’s just not for me. And I used to believe in lawyers who were about defending the law, but the system I see now is so blatantly racist and corrupt that I just can’t get behind characters like these anymore.

Angela

February 21, 2017

That’s a really good point. I’m not sure if there’s currently a better system out there, but I think lawyers need to be on the front lines to make the system the best, and most fair, that it can be. I think that’s part of their job duty.

Inkling

February 26, 2017

At first I thought this was going to be like another THE HATING GAME, but the more I read the synopsis the more I started to dislike it. Julie James has been kinda hit or miss for me. I did like two fo the FBI books, but I mostly read romances because I think they’re ridiculous and funny and I do like the smexy.